


Borgarleynir

by Rozilla



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Domestic Fluff, F/M, Fluff, Pre-Avengers: Age of Ultron (Movie), Talking, minor spoilers from the Age of Ultron junior novel, minor spoilers regarding Claudia Kim's character
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-17
Updated: 2015-04-17
Packaged: 2018-03-23 09:46:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,885
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3763507
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rozilla/pseuds/Rozilla
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jane's travels start with a stop at Borgarleynir- a cabin in Iceland. Thor joins her.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Borgarleynir

**Author's Note:**

> Borgarleynir is a real place- http://www.homeaway.co.uk/p1175510, but probably WAY out of my price range!  
> So yeah, after reading an extract concerning Jane in the Age of Ultron junior novel, this fic demanded to be written!

  


Jane let her bags drop with a loud, final _thunk_ and nearly collapsed onto a sofa, feeling so tired she could barely raise a smile. It was nice to finally be inside some where that wasn't an air port or an over air-conditioned conference hall. 

It was her third trip to Iceland, her first since the early days of her Ph.D, and she was able to commender the services of her friend's holiday cabin. Dr Guðmundsdóttir had only asked that she looked after Dúlla- a large fluffy grey cat with smoky yellow eyes. It was a small price to pay to stay in a secluded two bedroom cabin with a fireplace, two bedrooms, veranda and hot-tub. It was sixty miles from Reykjavík and was surrounded by grassy hills and within driving distance of some amazing natural wonders- including hotsprings, waterfalls, glaciers and black sand beaches. There was a nearby valley named Thorsmork and, really, how could she pass up the chance to hike up a valley named after her boyfriend? Most importantly though- no light pollution. The stars would look  _amazing_ , particularly the Aurora Borealis- she had known the best spots for viewing it were just out of Reykjavík. It would be perfect for her latest batch of observations. She gathered enough strength to set up her telescope and scanners on the wooden veranda so she could could get some readings tonight. After nearly falling asleep halfway through scrubbing her teeth, she struggled into some fleecy pyjamas and fell into the Queen sized bed, falling asleep before she hit the pillow. 

  


She felt the weight beside her and it made her stir in her sleep, but not wake up. A hand gently brushed over her's and a voice gently whispered into her ear 'Jane?'

'Hmm?' She turned and dislodged the cat, who had taken up residence next to her on the bed. It gave a disgruntled  _murrppp_ and leapt down to find a more comfortable spot. She cracked open her eyes a little and saw... 

'Hey you,' she drawled, more than half-asleep 'you okay?'

'I am, very much,' Thor replied, kissing her hair 'you seem tired my love.'

''m kinda tired...' she mumbled 'long flight... jet-lag.'

She was drifting in an out of sleep, barely coherent, but could feel his warmth and presence so close and so enveloping. She reached out to interlace their fingers 'You sticking around?'

'I have a few days, Stark willing,' Thor lifted their hands so he could kiss her knuckles 'Darcy told me where you were.'

'She's visiting her folks, I owed her... like... a million years of time off. She's joining me in  _ Tenerife _ . I'm guessing it's because of the gorgeous, sunny beaches.'

Thor chuckled, that rich, deep honeyed laugh that made Jane feel a little light headed.

'My little wanderer,' Thor sighed 'I keep losing track of where you're going.'

'We can discuss my itinerary tomorrow if you like,' Jane's eyes were fluttering open and closed 'it's a little hectic, but I'm not one for staying in the same place. You know me.'

'I do,' Thor rubbed her hand with his thumb 'and I am glad to.'

He left a light kiss on her lips 'But for now, you should sleep, we shall talk when you awaken.'

'Hmm'kay,' Jane's voice trailed away as she drifted back to sleep, not noticing him pull his hand free and leave the room, gently closing the door behind him.

  


Jane awoke at some point in the mid-afternoon, lazily reaching out to touch- empty space. She rolled over and, to her disappointment, there was no Thor laying beside her. It was a dream. Of course it was. She rolled her eyes back in her head as she stretched and let out a loud huff of breath, resigning herself to get up and shower. She crossed the little corridor, washed, brushed her teeth and dressed in a robe. All the while she tried not to think about Thor.

She had made a promise to herself not to look at the news footage, not even use the internet for anything other than check her various Astronomical feeds and email. She preferred to hear it from him- she was rather endearing of the way he told her how he and his fellow Avengers fought some rogue Hydra agents or some crazed technophile with a pretence at being a super-villain. Most of the time, Thor could take care of the threat himself, but she could see how much the camaraderie of the team was helping him come out of himself. She took a lot of credit, along with Darcy, for allowing him the time to heal and come to terms with what happened, but it was his team mates that helped him feel like a warrior again. She could never give him that really and he would never expect her to. She wasn't a warrior- she was a scientist. It was what he loved about her and, more importantly, what she loved about herself. It had it's downsides admittedly; like some of his old arrogance resurfacing a bit and occasionally rubbing her up the wrong way, but that was part of him. He exuded confidence and bravery and effortless charisma because he  _was_ THOR. It wasn't just his looks or even his strength, it was just something he was good at. To his credit, he toned it down a lot around her, treating her with deference and gentleness as always. He was magnanimous around most people as a matter of course, but with her (and to some extent with Darcy) he was a total gentleman. Literally. 

  


So much for not thinking of him.

  


With a frown she went back to her room to change and, to her surprise (and rising suspicion) there was a fresh mug of coffee waiting for her. Did she make that? Her head was still muzzy from the night before and she wasn't even certain of what time it was, but she would swear she didn't make herself coffee... She dressed, carefully, listening for any sounds coming from inside the cabin. A little fear crept up- she was in a cabin (not in the woods thankfully), somewhat secluded and, whilst she was hardly a shrinking wallflower, she wasn't exactly going to be able to take out an intruder on her own either. After dressing in jeans and a galaxy t-shirt, she picked up her mug and decided hot coffee was as good a weapon as any. Thor'd taught her a few things. Besides, she was probably being paranoid-

'Good morning!'

She leapt, screamed and dropped her coffee mug to the floor where it shattered and spread hot beverage all over the carpet at her feet.

'Holy-!' She took a few steps backward and took in the sight of Thor, dressed in sweats, hair tied back and looking alarmed with a skillet in hand.

'I thought we had a deal? No more smashing?' He joked, a little weakly.

'Seriously?! You scared the crap outta me you big yutz!'

He knew that word and was pretty familiar with it, as with some of her more colourful Yiddish curses that she and Darcy used with alarming regularity.

'You should hear her curse in Hebrew!' Darcy had once told him 'She doesn't do it often, but it's freakin' priceless.'

'I am sorry,' he said, holding a hand up 'I shall clean this up before you hurt yourself.'

She held a hand to her heart and tried to recover 'God... I... I thought I was dreaming, I didn't think you were actually here...'

'I intended to surprise you,' he said, retrieving a dustpan and brush 'but I realise that was probably not the best idea.'

'In a secluded cabin in the middle of no where? No. Probably not.'

After he'd cleared the mess and stopped the pancakes from burning, she calmed down enough to reach forward and hug him.

'Sorry,' she mumbled into his chest 'didn't mean to snap.'

'It's alright, don't apologise Jane. I should have come to wake you up.'

'I think I would've jumped outta my skin no matter what you did,' she wrapped her arms around his waist 'I do appreciate the thought. I was hoping to see you at some point.'

'I am here and I have made breakfast,' he did sneak a quick squeeze of her ass which made her snort and whack him on the arm 'sit, I shall I bring it over.'

They ate sitting across from each other, with her stroking his hand and looking into his eyes a few times 'How'd it go by the way?'

'Our mission? Same as always, with me victorious.'

She rolled her eyes 'Of course.'

'Actually,' Thor chuckled, honestly 'it was Banner who was truly the victor. He has a good control over the Hulk now, for which he should be congratulated.'

'That's good to hear,' Jane took a sip of coffee 'he's working with Dr. Cho right?'

'Indeed, she asked after you.'

'Really?' Jane smiled 'I knew her at Culver, not well, since our departments kinda had a rivalry going on, but me, Helen and Betty used to sit together and get drinks. She often had Amadeus with her.'

'Her son?'

'He was pretty little then,' Jane chewed thoughtfully 'that must have been hard for her... looking after a baby at such a young age  _and_ pursuing her career abroad. I couldn't do it.'

'He's graduated from Culver to,' Thor said.

'Really? He can't be any older than like... eighteen? Nineteen?'

'It would seem he's as clever as his mother.'

'Wow,' Jane shook her head 'that's crazy... but I guess it's probably pretty ordinary in the grand scheme of things.'

They gazed at each other for a little while, until Jane started 'Um... There's something I wanna tell you, but I don't want to say it aloud in case I jinx it, but I'm still excited in case it turns out to be true...'

'What is it?'

She gripped his hand a little tighter 'I might,  _might_ , be up for a Nobel Prize!'

He beamed so brightly he thought he might burst with pride and happiness, he drew her into his arms and held her on his lap 'This is wonderful news Jane!'

'Don't get too excited, I might not win-'

'But you might! And, if they are truly as prestigious as they claim, they  _would_ award you.'

'Well, you are kinda biased,' she teased.

'I am, very much,' he replied with a shrug 'but can you blame me? I have seen your work first hand and fought at your side, of course I am biased!'

She kissed the side of his neck 'Fair enough, we'll see.'

He purred a little at the contact, placing a hand just at the hem of her shirt 'What are your plans for celebrating this honour?'

'Well, I  _was_ supposed to be sleeping in preparation for tonight,' Jane looked thoughtful 'but since you're here, I think we ought to just hang out here for a while, I guess might have a look at the data from last night...'

He smiled and leaned up to kiss her. For a few glorious moments it was just a lazy dance of tongue and lips, Jane tangling her fingers in his hair and sighing contentedly. She pulled away, catching that low, dark look in his eye.

'Later,' she breathed 'data later.'

'Indeed.'

  


Eventually, they progressed to the Hot Tub, with Jane curled up on his lap, the water bubbling around them and Thor lazily tracing her back.

'You know there's a valley here named after you,' Jane said, enjoying the touch of wet skin 'it's about an hour's drive from here.'

'I did not know that,' he replied, with a stretch to take a sip of strawberry daiquiri.

'Isn't that... I dunno, weird for you?' Jane asked, ideally tracing the contours of his stomach 'It's pretty weird for me.'

Thor sighed 'I do not like to think too much about the time your people- well, Erik's people I suppose- worshipped me and mine. I believe they were very misguided and... caused much death in our names.'

Jane winced 'That's true... I'm sorry.'

'No... it's nothing.'

He smiled down at her 'I would still like to see it if we have the chance, I rather like this region of Midgard. I came here many times as a child.'

'I figured as much.'

'How?'

'Well,' Jane smiled and swam off his lap, to his consternation and got out of the pool to retrieve a couple of note books lying on the Veranda table. He briefly enjoyed seeing his wet, naked beloved make a hurried dash back. She carefully re-submerged and opened the book to show some of her scrawls. He found her equations oddly fascinating, though he couldn't understand them, along with notes and drawings around them. She opened it to a page titled 'Borgarleynir- March 3rd 2006' and showed him a list of numbers.

'I was looking at my old notes- from when I came here the first time- Borgarleynir is the name of this place by the way- and I can't help but notice the readings  _from_ this very spot not only have pretty much remained the same over time,' she paused to she opened the other notebook. She found a page titled 'Borgarleynir- February 17th 2007' and showed him a series of similar numbers 'but also more or less match the readings from New Mexico  _and_ London.'

'Meaning?'

'Meaning you, or rather, Heimdall, opened the Bifrost to these locations enough times to leave a trace. I was thinking; why would the Bifrost come here specifically? Was there a reason? And I'm still trying to answer that. I mean- why would you come here so often that the Vikings worship you as gods? Why come here and not... I dunno... any where else? There are other spots like New Mexico, but are they chosen at random or are they optimal for the Bifrost? Why aren't there myths about you in other cultures mentioning you guys by name? Although, I spoke to Doctor Mahajan at the IOA- that's the  Indian Astronomical Observatory- and I sent her my readings from 2005, 2007, through to New Mexico and London and, guess what? They pretty much match up.'

Thor nodded, smiling almost uncontrollably at her in what Darcy called 'free-flow'.

'Plus, there are link ups between some Viking Iconography and Hindu iconography- so much so that they think they might have met up at some point and there's some minor parallels between Hindu and Norse mythology... Basically, I have found that there's a way of tracking the Bifrost and seeing it's effects in our atmosphere- but it still doesn't entirely add up because you were able to use it on my balcony without blowing up the street and-'

She stopped when something fell out of one of the notebooks and into the water.

'SHIT!' Jane made a grab for it, but Thor got there first and held it up. It was a photograph.

'Who's this?' He asked looking at it- it had a young girl piggy back riding a tall man with dark hair and quirky round glasses. The girl was clearly Jane, but the man...

'My dad,' Jane said quietly 'that was at my Bot Mitzvah. He said he could still lift me up and I said he couldn't and... well, my dad was never one to back down from a challenge.'

He handed it back and she took it and the notebooks away to stop them getting wet. He watched her press the photograph under a heavy book to let it dry and keep flat. Her enthusiasm had dissipated more than a little and she returned, sinking back in the water once more.

'He... seems nice,' Thor said, a little at a loss.

'He was,' Jane looked up at him again 'he'd've liked you.'

'I hope so,' Thor lifted her chin and kissed her gently on the forehead, moving an arm to let her snuggle into his side again.

'I'm getting a lot of his old research released from the archives at Culver,' she sounded a little more distant 'I think he was on to the same things as me and I have more than enough academic clout now to justify looking into them.'

'I can imagine so,' Thor remarked, pressing his lips to her hair 'you mentioned your itinerary last night?'

'Yeah,' Jane perked up a little 'I've got invitations to go to facilities in Reykjavík, Tenerife, the IOA- can't wait to meet Geeta- Dr Mahajan- then it's onto Uluru in the Australian Outback, the Machtesh Ramon in Israel- meeting some distant relatives from my Mom's side I haven't seen in years- and then the Atacama Desert in Chile.'

Thor nearly laughed 'I can barely keep track!'

'Well, you won't have to, you can call me and come meet me. My cousin, well second cousin, said he wants you to come to his Bat Miztvah, but he's a spoilt misogynist little shit so don't feel obligated.'

Thor smirked 'We'll see.'

'Really looking forward to the Atacama Desert, it's  _ the _ place for stargazing, plus they're putting me up in the Hotel Elqui Domos, which has geodesic domes where the bedrooms open up to the sky... means you can sleep under the stars without freezing your ass off.'

Thor smiled thoughtfully 'That  _ does _ sound appealing.'

'I'm sure they wouldn't object to you showing up.'

'Hmmm...  _ sleeping _ under the stars?'

'Well... eventually.'

She clambered back onto his lap and wrapped her arms around his neck 'Eventually huh?'

There wasn't much talking after that.

  


They made it to the sofa after stopping to eat, still not bothering with clothes. They sat wrapped in a towel, Jane on one end, legs across Thor's lap, with him caressing her bare ankle.

'Stark still being an ass?' Jane asked, playing with a braid in his hair.

'Mostly,' Thor replied 'but at least he has the Lady Pepper and Rhodey to keep him on track.'

'True,' Jane pointed out her toes and straightened her leg so Thor could stroke the underside of her calf 'someone needs to keep his ego in check.'

'I am also up to this task to if need be,' Thor tickled her knee.

'How's Steve? Any luck finding his friend?'

'Sadly not,' Thor was paying close attention her thigh 'but Steven has much hope for him, I have offered my own services, but he has not accepted my help just yet.'

'Why's that?'

'I do not know, but I have not pressed him on the matter,' Thor manoeuvred on the sofa to sit up her between her knees and leaning over her 'they ask me about you.'

'Really?'

'Mostly when you shall be appearing at the Tower again.'

Jane leaned back luxuriantly 'I will, maybe when I'm done Atacama in about four months or so?'

'Or I could fly you there and back again from just about any where in the world?'

'Okay... sounds fair,' Jane chuckled.

'Good,' Thor smiled at her 'I do love to show you off.'

'But not right now, I'm pretty close to a breakthrough... well, right now I'm kinda distracted...'

'True,' he knelt down as far as the space would allow 'may I distract you a little longer?'

'Sure,' she replied, biting her lip, feeling warm and flustered 'but I do need to be outside for the Aurora in about three hours.'

'Of course... and I shall make us coffee when the time comes, but... right now...'

'Hmm?'

'We still haven't tried the bed yet.'

'No... true,' she was amazed she still had the energy 'lead the way.'

  


  


They finally ended up on the plains looking out on the open sky, nearby mugs of coffee, Jane in her galaxy onesie and thick Icelandic sweater, sitting in a folding chair and buried in one of her old notebooks. On a table next to her was her home-built digital telescope connected to her aging but faithful laptop, which she occasionally tapping at and humming at the results. Thor, who had brought sandwiches, snacks and more flasks of coffee, now lay, dressed in sweats again on one of the duvets laid out like a blanket. He watched her at work, admiring her and feeling utterly content. He turned his head to gaze up at the Aurora that turned and watched it subtly ripple across the night sky in a soft play of green light.

'You can go back to the cabin if you want,' Jane said, reaching for her coffee mug 'I'm going to be out here till the break of dawn.'

'Then so shall I,' Thor rested his hands behind his head and let his eyes fall shut 'besides, I can always sleep.'

'You could,' Jane took a sip 'I suppose... this is probably nothing compared to Asgard.'

Thor opened his eyes again and turned his head towards Jane 'I would have said so to, not so long ago. I would have said that even during the day, Asgard's skies were far grander.'

'You still have to tell me how that works by the way.'

'I shall take you back there and you can find out yourself,' Thor teased 'when... when...'

'When you are ready,' Jane reassured 'I still have lots to discover on Earth, there's no rush.'

'Asgard is not the only realm, far from it,' Thor stated, looking back at the sky 'there's Vanaheim, whose skies light up in a very similar fashion to this- except that the mages can pick out patterns and have used it to predict the future.'

'Really?' Jane turned, excitement peaked 'how does that work?'

'You will have to ask them,' Thor winked and Jane laughed 'Obviously.'

'Alfheim's skies are also beautiful, though can often seem a little... flashy. They can use their magic to manipulate the colour, the clouds, the sunlight-'

'How-'

'Ask them,' Thor sat up with a mock-weary tone 'when the time comes, and it will, we shall ask them together.'

Jane sat back in her chair 'So, back to my original point; my sky must look pretty... boring by comparison.'

'You've seen Asgard, if you think your sky so boring, why bother to study it?'

'Because even after three degrees and a Ph.D, I _still_ don't understand everything yet- ah. I get it now.'

'You see so much in it, how can it be anything other than extra-ordinary?' Thor's sincerity made Jane want to tackle him right there on the duvet and cover him in kisses, but he was definitely drifting off. He'd come from battle, had spent the whole day with her either talking, or having lazy, luxuriant sex, so of course he was tired.

'You have no idea how... perfect you are sometimes.'

'Only sometimes?'

'There it is,' she shook her head and mock-sighed 'but I suppose you've earned the right to be a bit big-headed... _occasionally_.'

'That's deeply reassuring,' he replied drowsily 'and thank you.'

'You're welcome,' she went back to her notebooks 'good night. I'll cuddle up to you when I'm done.'

'Of course,' he purred 'I look forward to it.'

She watched him drift off to sleep and went back to her notes.

 _I see plenty in the seemingly ordinary_ , she thought, allowing one last glance at him, _but then again, so does he._

  



End file.
